Rangers look to have found their new man in the centre of the park as the Summer window rumour mill kicks into gear.
Belgian international midfielder Nicolas Raskin was a standout last season in an otherwise awful year for the Ibrox side, really coming into his own in the clubs midfield.
But with just two-years left on his contract Rangers may be forced to sell while his value is at his maximum this summer, should no new terms be agreed. But all hope is not lost as Kevin Thelwell, Nils Koppen and their team of scouts may have already identified his replacement and one who trained with the Brazilian national team at only 16-years-old!
Abemly Meto Silu, known as Metinho, is a 22-year-old midfielder for Ligue 2 club Troyes. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he holds both Congolese and Brazilian citizenship and spent last season on loan at Swiss club Basel.
Making his debut as a teenager for Fluminense in Brazil he was quickly lured to Europe with Troyes, part of the City Football Group at 18 and has impressed during various loan spells in Belgium, the Dutch Eredivisie with Sparta Rotterdam and with the aforementioned Basel.
A sitting midfielder, he would compliment incumbent midfielder Mohammed Diomande, who likes to roam that bit further forward and will be one of two central midfield roles Rangers will look to strengthen alongside a new number 10, to go alongside the Ivorian and Metinho himself.
While he is valued at £4m, he is into the last year of his deal at Troyes and Rangers could take advantage of this situation and replace Raskin with the youngster, before falling into the same situation with the Belgian’s contract themselves a further year down the line.
Cashing in on Raskin will be risky, but we cannot afford to lose him for nothing like we did with Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos, and should a new deal not be forthcoming then it’s the right time.
Our new owners have shown they know the right time to make a sale from their time with Leeds, but they’ve also shown they know how to make cheap, but quality replacements for their big sales too. Will the heavily spoke about player trading model finally come into play at Ibrox this summer, we shall see, but Metinho looks the front runner to replace Raskin if he does depart.